Fiat rolls out Microsoft-driven, in-car 'infotainment'

For the past few months, little noticed by the outside world, a team on Microsoft's Redmond campus has been running tests with one of the swankiest machines ever to use the company's software.

Rather than sitting on a desk, this piece of hardware gets parked in a garage.

It's a 2006 Alfa Romeo 159, and it represents a new step in Microsoft's effort to spread its technology beyond personal computers. At the Geneva Auto Show this week, Fiat Auto plans to announce the availability of an in-car entertainment and information system that uses Microsoft software in four upcoming Alfa Romeo and Fiat models.